I hear there will be a press conference by the Government tomorrow regarding the blackouts; I will quote some headlines from the Belize media:

Originally Posted by Amandala

Greedy BEL earns record profits, but threatens blackoutsBEL’s pockets getting fatter! Take a look at how much profits BEL has made since 2005…2007 – $29.9 million2006 - $26.1 million2005 - $18.9 million

Originally Posted by LoveFM

PUP LEADER COMMENTS ON POWER OUTAGESLeader of The People’s United Party, John Briceno says the PUP is gravely concerned about recent statements made by Stan Marshall, Chairman of Fortis, at the BEL’s annual general meeting. The PUP says the Marshall’s threat to introduce rolling blackouts to Belizeans consumers if an increase in electricity rates is not granted to BEL is offensive and disrespectful.

Originally Posted by 7 News Belize

BEL Blames Weekend Blackouts on MexicoThere were intermittent power outages countrywide over the long weekend – and while most people we spoke to felt that a spiteful Stan Marshall was toggling the switch to make the government get the sense – BEL has assured us, no such thing happened.

Originally Posted by The Reporter

Black outs again!Belize Electricity Limited, the privately owned multi-million dollar electricity company which generated some $30 million in profit at the end of its last financial year, this week said that tough times are ahead, including potential rotating blackouts.

Originally Posted by Channel5 Belize

B.E.L.: separate blackouts are Mexico’s faultConspiracy theorists will tell you the separate nationwide blackouts that occurred over the long weekend were messages from Belize Electricity Limited to the Public Utilities Commission.

Originally Posted by Belize Times

WATCHOUT! FOR BLACKOUTSBEL reaches “crisis levels”, says Fortis CEO

Originally Posted by The Guardian

BEL to Belizeans – Brace for BlackoutsPUC to BEL - Not so Fast!

Everybody has a different opinion; I don't buy their excuses so early after threatening the Government of Belize with "blackouts when we don't get our raise" and think the behaviour of BEL is criminal and should be threated as such. We need competition on the Electricity Market in Belize.Any ideas?

Here are some figures sorted by rate from [u]electricity tariffs around the world in Wikipedia[/u] and guess what? Belize is definitely the highest with US$ cents 24.8 per kilowatt hour, and has probably by far with the worst quality and service. On top of that they now want a 15% increase??

Denmark: US$ cents 22.89 as of 2006-2007Italy: US$ cents 15.74 as of 2006-2007Germany: US$ cents 13.16 as of 2006-2007Netherlands: US$ cents 12.62 as of 2006-2007Hong Kong (HK Island): US$ cents 12.30 as of 2008-04-23Belgium: US$ cents 11.43 as of 2006-2007UK: US$ cents 11.16 as of 2006-2007Hong Kong (Kowloon): US$ cents 10.90 as of 2008-04-23Spain: US$ cents 10.35 as of 2006-2007USA: US$ cents 9.28 as of 2006-2007France: US$ cents 8.54 as of 2006-2007Australia: US$ cents 7.11 as of 2006-2007Finland: US$ cents 6.95 as of 2006-2007Sweden: US$ cents 6.60 as of 2006-2007Canada US$ cents 6.18 as of 2006-2007South Africa US$ cents 3.56 as of 2006-2007

I have damage, but I am above all furious about the big picture; "Highest Electricity Rates in the World", "Whining about 15% Increase" with "Worst Quality and Service" and "Record Profits", further "Threatening a Nation", "IMO Criminal Behavior from BEL" thus "GOB needs to handle this lack of service as a Criminal Act against Belizeans" and "Belize needs Competition on the Electricity Market". Do you have any ideas about that?

Watch the morning show at 7am this morning (Ch7), maybe they will have an update on the island outages. Yesterday they said they had no response from BEL and were calling on BEL to give an explanation when the power was cut off ending the show.

"appeared to be a short in a transformer as I heard a loud bang when it went off"....what about the ten times after it went out when it went on and off for three seconds about five times? Or this morning when it "almost" went off....I'm tired of replacing refrigerators and AC condensers....yes, call them and they will tell you you can "Go to the BEL office and fill out a claim form"..has anyone ever actually recieved any $$ after filing one of their "claim forms"?